THE JOURNEY HOME
by Jangocommando27
Summary: My first Fanfic please rate and comment
1. Chapter 1

**THE JOURNEY HOME**

**PROLOGUE**

**FORRUNNER SHEILDWORLD,**

**APEAX SITE**

Sergeant forge watched as the Arbiter stabbed the Lieutenant with his energy sword. Jerome alerted him to a group of charging Elite honour guard.

"Take care of those Elites, he's mine" said Forge as he stamped on the trailers release leaver for the Slipspace drive in an attempt to crush the Arbiter. After a swift drawl the Arbiter and his guards were defeated, but as they prepped the slipspace drive they found a problem.

"Sir, it's already overheating, ill need to separate the core and align them manually when they need to blow" said Jerome.

"Son I think before this is over we'll need every last Spartan in the fight, I can do this, report back to the ship" Said Forge,

"And you go with them" said a voice. The Spartan and Forge spun round weapons ready to see the Lieutenant standing with a hand over his stomach, holding his organs in place.

"Lieutenant go with the Spartans and get back to the Spirit, they'll fix you up." Said Forge as he rushed to hold up the Lieutenant.

"Bullshit Sergeant. I'm dying and nothing's going to stop that. But I think I have enough time left to blow this planet and every flood and covenant scumbag on it on a one-way ticket straight to hell."

"But sir..." Said forge,

"You've disobeyed enough orders son, here's one you will obey, GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" Interrupted the Lieutenant. Forge looked at him and saw that there was no arguing with the man.

"Good luck sir, it's been an honour." Said Forge as the Lieutenant staggered to the door and started it closing.

"One more thing, if you find my Sister or Dad, tell them I love them." Said the Lieutenant as the doors closed.

The Spartans and Forge boarded a Pelican and headed back to the Spirit of fire. Upon returning to the Bridge, Cutter asked,

"Where's the Lieutenant?"

"He stayed behind to fire the drive" Said Forge Sadly.

"Captain!" Serina cried," The exit portal has closed and the sun has begun to collapse, we won't have time to land and open it again."

"Slingshot the ship around the sun and fire the MAC on my mark" said Cutter.

As the Spirit accelerated around the Sun, it closed on the Portal.

"FIRE MAC" yelled cutter and Serina fired the MAC, impacting and shattering the shield blocking the exit portal. The ship shot through the portal and escaped as the Planet exploded.

**Two weeks later**

**SPIRIS OF FIRE CRYO ROOM 3**

"Captain I'd rather stay awake and monitor this area" Protested Anders,

"Professor, there's been no sign of the Covenant for weeks, there's nothing to do" Said Cutter,

"But Captain..." Protested Anders,

"But nothing Professor, you got us all out of there get some rest. "Said Cutter as he activated her Cryo tube.

"Not all of us captain, not all of us." Said Anders, as she went into Cryo sleep. Cutter walked over and nodded as Forge activated his Cryo tube; Cutter walked up to the empty Cryo tube and closed the hatch. It read "Lt. Nathan. J. Keyes".


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 1: A new finding**

**UNSC SPIRIT OF FIRE**

**DEEP SPACE, 2562**

"Captain, wake up, something has happened." Was the voice that awoke Captain James Cutter from his 31 year sleep. The captain woke as his Cryo tube opened; he stepped forward and stumbled out of the Cryo tube, in his Uniform. He shook off the groggy feeling and picked himself off the floor and marched through the door of the Cryo bay and headed for the Bridge. He walked onto the bridge and was greeted by the familiar holographic avatar of the ships AI Serina.

"Good morning Captain, Sleep well?" She said,

"Yes thanks serina, who long have we been in Cryo?" Cutter asked as he slumped in his command Chair,

"31 years captain, the date is 25th December 2561, Merry Christmas captain" Said Serina with a she as she made her avatar a Santa hat.

"31 Years" thought the captain. "Wait serina, if it's been 31 years how are you not Rampant?" asked Cutter as he stood up and reached for his magnum, not that it would be any good if Serina decided to vent the bridge's atmosphere.

"I cloned myself sir. Meet my twin Amy" She said as a pink avatar that looked like a 15 year old ginger version of Serina. "I created her so that we could take it in turns to run the ship, while one was running the ship, the other was repairing herself"

"Nice to meet you Amy" said the Captain, now relaxed that Serina wasn't Crazy, well not crazy for Serina. He turned to serina and continued "Now serina what was the reason you woke me from Cryo so fast?"

"We've detected an unidentified ship off our port bow; it's within visual range and holding position." Said Serina.

"Covenant?" asked the captain, slightly worried at the idea.

"No, and it's not UNSC, Orders Sir?"

"Spin up the MAC and thaw out the crew, double quick and have them report to battle stations." Said Cutter as he sat in his command chair and tapped the buttons that sounded the battle stations.

"Yes sir! Done, Sir the ship is hailing us." Said serina.

**USS VOYAGER**

**DELTA QUARRANT **

**STARDATE: 239981.4**

"Captains log star date 239981.4. It's Christmas in the delta quadrant and the crew are getting festive but alas the show of the delta quadrants many mysteries must go on as we've detected an unknown star ship that has unusual markings."

Captain Janeway walked over to the table and picked up a sandwich, for once Mr. Neelix (at the crew's insistence) researched and produced some earth delicacies for the Christmas party. The 8th year in the delta quadrant and were still several thousand light-years from earth. But with parties like this on the holo deck (currently configured as Mr. Paris's bar), that just didn't matter.

"Hey captain, care for a glass of Champaign?" Asked Tom,

"Mr. Paris, When is your next duty shift?" asked the Captain,

"Err, 2 hours Captain, why?" asked Tom curiously,

"Well lieutenant, you might want to replicate some aspirin before then" said the Captain,

"Yes ma'am "said Mr. Paris as he put down his glass of Champaign. Suddenly, the captains comm badge came to life with Mr. Tuvok's voice and said

"Tuvok to Janeway"

"Janeway here" Said the captain as she tapped her comm badge,

"Captain, we've detected an unidentified ship off our port bow"

"On my way, Mr. Paris meet me on the bridge and stop by med bay on the way, I'm fairly sure it's illegal to drive a starship after two glasses of Champaign" said Janeway as she left the Holo-deck and headed for the turbo lift. As she entered the Turbo lift she keyed in the button for the bridge and waited as the lift rose to the Bridge, as the door's opened she was greeted by Harry Kim saying,

"Captain, unidentified starship is in visual range."

"On screen" she said as she sat in her command chair next to commander Chakotay. The image portrayed a visual of a large grey ship with obvious extensive damage.

"Captain I've found something on the Hull, putting it on screen" said Harry, as he said this, the screen magnified in on the bow where the Words UNSC SPIRIT OF FIRE and a list of names and dates could be clearly seen. "UNSC SPIRIT OF FIRE? The ships name maybe? And that appears to be a list of Commanders, the last being a Captain J. Cutter"

"That thing is huge, how did it not show up on our sensors?"

"The ship is on minimal power, it appears to be only powering its sublight engines, a computer system and... whoa ok" Said Mr. Kim,

"And what Mr. Kim?" asked Tuvok,

"About 3,000 Cryo tubes" Said Harry,

"Good Lord" said Chakotay "the entire Crew must have gone into Cryo sleep",

"Not entirely Commander" said Tuvok "I'm reading one life sign aboard the ship, it appears to be Human."

"Human?" asked Janeway "Out here?"

"Captain, I'm reading Cryo pods powering down across the ship, and weapons powering up."

"Red alert, rise shields, Try to hail them" Ordered Captain Janeway.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2: Interruptions

"Sir the ship is hailing us." Said Serina,

"Put it on screen" said Cutter as he got up from his command chair and turned to the screen behind the tac-table. The screen switched from the orbiting image of the spirit of fire's emblem to portray an image of a cream coloured bridge with a man and a woman in the center surrounded by multiple stations. "This is Captain James Cutter of the UNSC Spirit of Fire, Identify Yourselves." He said, slightly surprised that the people were human.

"This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the federation starship Voyager. Were passing through the Sector when we came upon your vessel, we were slightly surprised to find humans in the delta quadrant." Said the Woman, as she stood up from her Chair.

"We recognise this as unexplored Space, we didn't know there were Humans out here, we're just trying to get home" Said Cutter,

"We know the feeling, we're also trying to get home, can you tell us why your only travelling at sublight speed and why most of your crew are in Cryosleep." Asked Janeway,

"We lost our slipspace drive in destroying a Forerunner shield world and preventing our enemy getting control of an unstoppable fleet of ancient ships." Said Cutter,

"Maybe we can discuss this in person later but for now can you tell us why you've locked weapons on us?" Asked Kathryn,

"Ah apologise, last time we encountered a possibly alien ship, they initiated a genocide campaign against us" Said Cutter, smirking slightly at the shocked looks of the Bridge crew of the Voyager. Suddenly almost simultaneously, Serina Said,

"Sir! New contact closing in"

"Captain, Kazon Carrier incoming" Said a Asian looking man on the back right of the Voyagers bridge.

"Thank you Mr. Kim" Said Kathryn, she turned to Cutter and said, "Captain, I recommend you prepare for a fight, the Kazon are a war like race of humanoids that will attack anything"

"Thank you captain" Said Cutter, "Serina, bring the ship to alert and train the MAC on that ship!"

"Aye sir." Said Serina. Almost immediately, a large brown/ dark yellow coloured vessel came into view ahead of the two ships and red laser fire erupted from its hull, hitting both Voyager and the Spirit. Voyager' shields shimmered as the lasers hit home, the Spirit gained a few new scares oh her already battered hull.

"Damage report!" Yelled Cutter,

"Superficial, but we won't last much longer if we don't return fire" Said Serina.

"Captain I recommend you return fire with everything you have" Said Janeway "the Kazon aren't responding to our hails"

"With pleasure" said Cutter, "Serina, what's the Status of the MAC?"

"Locked up and running hot Captain" Said Serina,

"Open Fire" Said Cutter, holding onto the Tac-table for stability as the ship shook as the ships MAC fired 3 rounds.

Meanwhile, aboard the USS voyager's Bridge, the Bridge crew watched in amassment as the 3 shots from the Spirit of fire hit home, the first hitting the shields, making them glow and shimmer, the second made the shields shimmer and collapse, the third hit home and went clean through the ship, gutting it from the inside, followed by a massive explosion as the Reactor went critical and tore the ship apart from the inside. After a moments silence in awe, Ensign Kim said,

"Kinda makes a photon torpedo look like a pea shooter huh?"

"Indeed Harry" Said Janeway in awe.

"Captain, the Spirit of fire is hailing us" Said Tuvok from his station.

"On screen" said Janeway.

"Now that that's dealt with, perhaps we can meet in person." Said Cutter as he appeared on screen,

"Of course" Said Janeway, "come over in a shuttle craft, I'll meet you there personally." Said Janeway. Cutter nodded and closed the link, Janeway stood up and said, "Tuvok, Chakotay with me, have security meet us in the shuttle bay. Time to meet the neighbours"


	4. Chapter 4

The journey home

Chapter 3

**Negotiations and findings**

"So there human, speak English, have an interstellar empire and are trying to get home like us?"

"Pretty much Forge" Said Cutter as he and sergeant Forge walked along the hallways towards the hanger bay.

"Man, Anders is going to love this" said Forge as he and the captain passed through the bulkhead into the now bustling hanger. Cutter smiled as he saw the crew busy again, and frowned slightly at that there wasn't as much activity as usual.

"Something wrong Captain?" Forge asked,

"Just wondering if and when we get home how I'm going to explain the loss of 8,000 marines and personnel." Said Cutter sadly,

"Well Cap, it will be an honour to help you explain "said Forge, resting a reassuring hand on the Captains shoulder,

"Thanks son, there's Anders" Said Cutter, pointing to the black haired woman waiting by a Pelican. The woman turned and said,

"You two finally ready to go?"

"Nice to see you too Professor" said Forge, folding his arms with a smirk,

"Well now that you two are done catching up" Said the Captain "Shall we go?"

"Indeed Captain" Said Anders as she walked up into the back of the Pelican and strapped herself in opposite chair to Forge. The pelican Lifted off the deck with a burst of thrust, as the rear door closed the pelican flew out of the hangars shield doors and headed for the Voyager.

Meanwhile on voyager, Janeway, Chakotay and Tuvok waited in the shuttle bay for the ambassadors from the Spirit of fire, as they waited, Janeway said,

"Can you imagine, an entire Human civilisation, living in another part of space, with faster than light travel and an interstellar empire, and we never knew they were there?"

"It is conceivable that they were taken from earth and developed on their own much like the descendents from the 37's were" Said Tuvok in his usual unemotional voice. As he finished, the shuttle bay was filled with the sound of shrieking engines as a green shuttle craft entered the shuttle bay. It was obviously a military ship due to the missile pylons under the wings and the large gun under the nose. The ship lowered its landing gear as the noise of the engines died down as the shuttle came to rest on the deck of the shuttle bay.

"Subtle" said Chakotay as the rear door of the Shuttle opened and 2 men and one woman exited the ship and walked towards them. The younger of the two men was quite obviously a soldier due to the knife by his neck and the gun on his right hip.

"Captain Janeway, it's nice to meet you in person" Said Cutter as he held a hand out to shake Captain Janeway's,

"Captain Cutter it's nice to meet you, this is my first officer commander Chakotay and my security officer Lieutenant Tuvok" Said Janeway as she shook Cutter's hand,

"This is my first sergeant, sergeant Forge and Professor Anders" Said Cutter, gesturing to the two people behind him,

"Indeed, nice to meet you" Said Janeway with a warm smile, "Shall we continue this in my ready room?"

"Yes let's, lead the way" Said Cutter, following as the 3 UNSC personnel were led to the turbo lift, once all six of them were in the doors closed and Janeway said,

"Bridge" The turbo lift moved with a quiet hum as it rose to the bridge. The lift stopped and the doors opened to reveal a bridge dominated by a pair of chairs in the center of the bridge with many stations around the bridge. The Six of them spilled out of the lift and headed for a door at the back of the bridge. Some of the bridge crew stared slightly before returning to their work. The Door at the back of the bridge opened to reveal a spacious room, with a desk, large sofa, an attached shower room and an odd computer like terminal in the wall.

"Would you like anything to eat or drink?" Asked Janeway as Anders, Forge and Cutter stat down on the sofa,

"Nothing for me thank you. "Said Cutter,

"I'm fine thanks" said Anders,

"I wouldn't mind a cup of coffee" Said Forge,

"Coming up sergeant" Said Janeway as she walked over to the Terminal in the wall, "how do you like your coffee sergeant?"

"Black please" said Forge,

"Coffee Black" Said Janeway to the machine. Then a moment later, much to the amazement of Anders, Cutter and Forge, a cup of black coffee appeared on the machine.

"Here you go" Said Janeway, handing the Cup to Forge,

"Thank you" said Forge as he took the cup and took a sip,

"That's incredible" Said Anders,

"It's just a replicator, hardly the most advanced piece of equipment on the ship; we have over 50 on board. If you like I can have Ensign Kim show you how it works" Said Chakotay,

"Well captain" asked Anders, turning to Cutter,

"Go on Anders, find out what you can but don't be intrusive" Said Cutter. On hearing this Janeway tapped her comm badge and said

"Janeway to Kim"

"Harry here Captain" Came back a voice from the Comm badge,

"Harry I need you to show Professor Anders a replicator and how it works" Said Janeway,

"I'll be right there Captain" Said the Voice. Almost 5 seconds later, the door opened and an Asian looking man appeared and Anders rose from her chair and followed the young Ensign.

"Now that Andes is having fun and occupied" Said Cutter, "maybe we can have an exchange of information"

"Indeed, Shall we go first?" Asked Chakotay,

"If you wish" said Cutter, The officers discussed the federation, Star fleet, the alpha and delta quadrants and Voyager's Experiences in the delta quadrant. After Janeway and Chakotay finished, they handed Cutter a disk that contained information for Anders to study. Cutter and forge began to

tell the story of the UNSC, slipspace drives, the covenant, the human-covenant war, the flood, the Forerunners. They also gave a disk to Janeway for her crew to study. Just as the Crew moved to leave for the Spirit of Fire, when Janeway's comm badge beeped,

"Paris to Janeway" came the voice,

"Janeway here, go ahead Mr. Paris" Said Janeway,

"Captain, were receiving a transmition from the Spirit of fire" Said Mr. Paris,

"We'll be right through Mr. Paris Janeway out" Janeway tapped her comm badge, "who's in command of the Spirit?"

"Jerome, he'll be the one hailing us" said Forge, The group re entered the bridge just as the turbo lift opened and Ensign Kim and Professor Anders came out and onto the bridge.

"The Spirit is still hailing us" Said Paris,

"On Screen" Said Janeway, the forward screen came to life and portrayed the bridge of the Spirit of fire with a towering green armoured Spartan in the middle of the screen in full MJOLNIR mark 4 armour.

"Captain" He said,

"Jerome, what's so important that it couldn't wait 5 minutes till I get back to the Spirit?" Asked Cutter impatiently,

"We've picked up a distress signal." Said Jerome

"And that couldn't have waited petty officer?" Asked Cutter, slightly astounded that Jerome would have interrupted him for something so trivial.

"No sir, Its UNSC"


	5. Chapter 5

The journey home: Chapter 4

117

Captain Cutter ran onto the bridge of the Spirit of fire with Forge and Anders in tow,

"Serina, Jerome situation update please" he said,

"We've verified the distress call and it's UNSC" Said Serina,

"We've also locked onto the signal; it's at least a day away at full speed" Said Jerome, looking up from the Tac-table,

"Is the distress call still active?" asked Anders,

"Yes, the distress signal is still transmitting" Said Serina, in a accent as if it was the most obvious question ever,

"Let's hear it" said Forge, Serina obliged and the Bridges speakers came to life and came a female voice that said,

"_Mayday, Mayday, Forward unto dawn, immediate evac, 117"_

"Sir there is no record in the ships library of a UNSC Forward unto dawn, this could be a trap" said Serina,

"Or it's A newer ship" said Cutter, "Have we confirmed the Transmition identity code?"

"Yes sir, this code was supposed to come into use 6 months after we left Arcadia" said Serina,

"So it is authentic" said Forge,

"Maybe, we don't know if it's a trap, we don't know how the war went, if only we could get a visual on the target" said Cutter,

"Maybe we can" said Anders, finally making her known,

"Anders?" Questioned Cutter,

"Didn't Captain Janeway mention that they had a tractor beam, if we give them the coordinates they will be able to tractor it within visual range" Explained Anders,

"It's an idea" said Cutter, "Hail, the Voyager". The ensign at communications nodded and turned to his station and pressed a few buttons and a few seconds later the bridge of voyager appeared on the screen behind the tac-table.

"Captain, what can we do for you? Did you confirm the distress call?" Asked Janeway as she rose from her command chair.

"Yes we confirmed the Distress call, its UNSC all right, but it's at least a day's travel for us and we believe it could be a trap, I don't suppose we could make use of your tractor beam to bring it within visual range?" Said Cutter,

"By all means Captain, we will need the range and heading though," said Janeway,

"Of course, Forge?" Said cutter, turning to his senior sergeant,

"Heading 085, angle -064 degrees, range 380,963.504 kilometres" said Forge while bent over the TAC table,

"Tuvok?" asked Janeway, turning to her tactical officer,

"Target is locked on captain, engaging tractor beam," said Tuvok, a few seconds later he said, Target is within visual range"

"On screen" Said Janeway. The screen switched from showing a picture of the group on the Spirit of Fire's bridge to show a large but obviously heavily damaged ship,

"Captain, do you recognise this ship?" Asked Janeway,

"Yes Captain" Said Cutter, "The ships computer has identified it as the stern half of a Charon -class light frigate, the million credit question is how it got out here and where is the other half of it is."

"Mr. Tuvok, are there any traces of a warp trail?" asked Janeway, turning to her tactical officer.

"No, there is no trace of a recent warp trail" said Tuvok,

"Could you try hailing them?" asked Janeway, returning her attention to the Spirit of Fires crew.

"We'll give it a try" Said Jerome, turning his attention to the ship out of the bridge's window,

"This is Spartan Petty officer Jerome S-092 to UNSC forward unto dawn do you read over" Said Jerome into the Ships mic system.

"No response sir, wait, the distress signal has changed sir" Said a deck officer,

"Let's hear it" said Cutter,

"Oly Oly Oxen Free" came the response.

"Oly Oly Oxen Free? What's that suppose to mean?" Asked Forge. Suddenly all attention on the bridge suddenly shifted to Jerome as he said into his helmets mic,

"Alice! Douglas! Prep for full EVA and gear up, requisition a pelican and meet me in the hangar, I don't care if you have to do it at gunpoint do it!" As he finished saying this he turned for the door at the back of the bridge.

"Spartan! You recognise that signal, What does it mean?!" Demanded Cutter,

"It means there's a Spartan on that ship" Said Jerome as he stormed out of the bridge and headed for the Hangar bay.


	6. Chapter 6

The journey home 

Chapter 5: news from home

Jerome, Alice and Douglas carefully made their way through the Gravity less stern of the Forward unto dawn. The searchlights on their helmets cutting through the darkness of the ship. They moved quickly but carefully, knowing that one wrong move could send them tumbling.

"Red team this is Cutter, do you read over" Came a voice over the comm,

"This is red lead, go ahead Captain, "said Jerome into his mic as he continued to move through the ship,

"Our scanners are saying that the ships power has been diverted to one cryo tube and one computer, possibly an AI, They are in cryo bay 1, transferring map to your HUD" Said Cutter,

"Got it sir, over and out" Said Jerome, as he and the other Spartans of red team moved down a deck and headed for the newly marked cryo bay.

"Who do you reckon it is?" asked Alice,

"What do you mean?" asked Douglas,

"Who do you reckon the Spartan is?" Explained Alice,

"It could be Jorge" said Jerome,

"Or Kelly or Linda" said Alice,

"We'll find out soon enough, were here" said Jerome as they entered the Cryo bay, they found it in bad shape, with only one of the Cryo bay's active and a AI pedestal in the middle. As the 4 Spartans grew closer the AI pedestal sprung into life to produce a holographic purple woman who looked like a younger version of Dr. Halsey,

"Who are you?" It said,

"Spartans, Jerome, Alice and Douglas, we received your distress signal, clever using the Oly Oly oxen free, who are you?" said Jerome,

"I'm Cortana and that signal wasn't me" Said Cortana,

"It was me" came a deep voice behind them. The Spartans spun round weapons raised to see a fully armoured green Spartan with a gold visor floating in the shadows "Hello guys"

"John" said Jerome in awe, staring at the Spartan,

"Nice to see some other Spartans for a change although you've been listed as MIA along with the rest of the Spirit of Fire" said Master Chief "which I'm assuming is what you road in on"

"You go it, you weren't listed MIA when we went missing, How long you been here?"

"What year is it?" asked chief,

"2561" said Alice,

"9 years, wait" he said, looking over at Cortana,"Cortana, how are you not rampant"

"I downloaded all my data into your armour. I had to delete some of your files to make room; I must admit I've seen better uses of personal storage."

"Ok now that that's settled why don't we get back to the Spirit?" said Douglas,

"Sounds like a plan" said Chief as he floated over to the pedestal and unplugged Crotona's chip and placed it in the back of his helmet, he then turned to the Spartans and said,

"I assume you have a pelican to get us out of here?"

"Right this was" said Douglas as he turned to lead the Spartans back to the waiting pelican. The 4 Spartans worked their way through the wreaked ship and boarded the waiting pelican, Douglas got into the pilots seat and started the engines,

"Spirit of fire this is red team, were RTB at this time and the master chief is aboard" he said as the Pelican detached itself from the wreak and manoeuvred for the Spirit,

"Come again Spartan, did you say Master Chief" said the operator in disbelief,

"That's affirmative spirit" said Douglas with a slight chuckle, "We'll be there in a few minutes"

"Copy Spartan you are cleared to land hanger 4 over and out" said the operator in astonishment and the line went dead. Douglas closed the link and sat back into the pilot's seat. "Well it'll be a few minutes so sit back and enjoy the ride." Said Douglas

"I see Douglas hasn't lost his scene of humour" said master Chief with a chuckle. Opposite him sat Alice and Jerome both of whom had their heads low.

"John" said Alice "who's left?

"Kurt is MIA on Onyx. Linda, Fred and Kelly were sent to Onyx. Solomon and Arthur bought it on an ONI op." Said chief, humour less.

"Jorge?" asked Alice with a bit of hope evident in her voice through the sorrow. All of that left her as she saw that chief was shook his head, "How?"

"Manually detonated a slipspace bomb, took a super carrier and a corvette with him at Reach" said Chief sadly, "I'm so sorry Alice, I know you and Jorge were close during training" said Chief.

"We were going to get married when we retired" said Alice, almost sobbing inside her helmet, "Have a little farm in the Viery territory, raise a family"

"If it makes you feel better" said Chief, "when you were declared MIA and when the Spirit was declared lost with all hand, he never gave up hope"

"Thank you" Said Alice.

"When was reach attacked" Asked Jerome,

"Reach fell in 2552, Earth was attacked later that year, then the ark was uncovered and that set in motion the events that lead to the end of the war" said chief,

"Well, the wars over, any other surprises?" asked Douglas from the cockpit,

"The elites left the covenant and are now our allies" said Chief. Silence rained , only interrupted by the sound of Douglas bringing the Pelican into the Hanger


	7. Chapter 7

The journey home 

Chapter 6

A solution

The Pelican landed in the hanger and came to a rest on the deck and the 4 green clad Spartans walked out onto the deck of the Spirit. The Master Chief was swamped by marines and deck personnel. All amazed that there was a Spartan all the way out here, all baring questions about home. The crowd began to Split and Cutter accompanied by Forge and Anders came through the Crowd,

"Master Chief" said Cutter,

"Sir" said Chief, snapping to attention and saluting along with the other Spartans.

"It's good to see you son" said Cutter

"You to sir, we thought it impossible for you to be still alive after 31 years" said Chief,

"Why does everyone think were dead son?" asked Cutter

"The Spirit of fire was declared lost with all hands in 2534 sir" said Chief sadly, suddenly the hanger went silent, all staring at the chief, "Perhaps we better continue this in private sir"

"Perhaps we should, right this way" said Cutter as he turned and left the hanger, Spartans in tow. After a quick walk to the bridge, the group entered the bridge and gathered around the tac- table.

"Well Chief, here's the situation as I see it" said Cutter, " were stuck far from home and have met up with a load of other humans who have never heard of the UNSC and are also stranded far from home. Back at our home were listed as lost with all hand but the Human covenant war is over and all the colonies have fallen and earth is pretty much the only human world left".

"That about sums it up sir" said Chief

"Well chief you better grab a cryo tube, looks like we're continuing a long way home." Said Cutter,

"Maybe we won't be captain" said Serina, her holographic avatar suddenly appearing on the tac- table,

"What do you mean serina?" said Forge,

"I was going through the data that the Voyager crew gave us, I found something interesting" said Serina,

"Go ahead Serina" said Cutter.

" A few years ago, Voyager's crew encountered a being who's ship used a form of FTL called a slipstream drive, if we can get hold of one we may be able to install it on the Spirit" explained Serina,

"That's great Serina, but where are we going to get hold of one? And why can't we use the one from the forward unto dawn?" asked Forge,

"First the dawn's was damaged. Didn't Captain Janeway say that one of their crew was a local of the 'delta quadrant'? Maybe he will know where we can get one" said Serina,

"Let's find out" said Cutter, turning to his communications officer "Hail the Voyager", the officer nodded and he keyed in a few commands to his keyboard and the screen on the wall behind the tac table came to life to show the bridge of the voyager.

"Captain what can I do for you?" said Janeway, standing from her command chair on the bridge.

"Well captain we have a bit of a ask, we read in the material you gave us says that you came across a species who's ship used a form of FTL called a Slipstream drive." Said Cutter.

"Yes, he tried to kill us for helping the Borg against species 4782. Why?" said Janeway,

"We believe that if we can get out hands on a Slipstream drive then we can fit in to the Spirit and get home" said Anders,

"Why not use the FTL drive from the wreckage of you other ship?" asked Tuvok,

"It's been damaged beyond repair" said Serina,

"Do you know where we may be able to get our hands on a Slipstream drive?" asked Cutter,

"Captain, didn't Neelix say that he knew where there was a trading post that stocked ship parts a few light years from here?" Asked Harry.

"Your right Ensign he did, but a few light years is a bit far for the Spirit" said Janeway, "Captain, were willing to go and see if this place has a slipstream drive if you send one of your engineers with us to see if it will be compatible"

"Thank you Captain" Said Cutter, he turned to the tac- table and held down a button and said "Prescott, Get up here on the double"

"Yes sir!" came back a male voice and Cutter released his hold on the button and returned to the screen and said "Lieutenant Prescott is our Chief engineer, he knows everything about Slipspace drives, and he'll be able to tell if it's a possible match"

"I'd like to go too Captain" Said Anders,

"Anders..." Cutter cautioned,

"Captain it would be first contact with new never before seen species, and I can help with the drive too" Countered Anders,

"Well Captain is it ok with you if Anders comes along?" Asked Cutter,

"They'll be more than welcome to join us Captain, we can beam them over at anytime" Said Janeway. Just as she finished this, Lieutenant Prescott walked onto the bridge. He stopped and saluted Cutter who casually returned the salute and said "lieutenant, you and Anders are going on an away mission with Voyager to get us a new FTL drive"

"Ok sir" said Prescott,

"Go and pack your things and report back here in 15 minutes" said Cutter "Dismissed". After he said this, Prescott and Anders left the room. 16 minutes later they reappeared backpacks and data pads in hand.

"Ok Voyager their ready to beam over to you" Said Cutter,

"Ok locking on and we got them" said Ensign Kim from the back of Voyagers Bridge as the 2 vanished from bridge of the Spirit of fire.

"Good luck Voyager, we'll maintain our current speed and course and see you when you return" and with a nod from Captain Janeway, the link terminated and Voyager disappeared.

"Sir!" Cried a deck officer "new contacts, High tonnage!"


	8. Chapter 8

The Journey home

Chapter 7

"Sir new contacts high tonnage" cried the deck officer,

"How many?" demanded Cutter,

"3 sir, range, 800 kilometres and closing. Sir their charging weapons!" responded the deck officer,

"Battle stations, bring weapons on line, do they mach any known patterns?" said Cutter moving forward and taking a seat in his command chair.

"No sir, not from our database, searching the data voyager gave us, I've got a match, oh boy" said the deck officer,

"Well lieutenant who are they?" Forge demanded,

"Vidiians sir" said the lieutenant "According to the data Voyager gave us. The Vidiians possess medical technology far more advanced than Starfleet, as they must constantly replace their organs with stolen organs to remain alive. Their bodies appear to be made of a patchwork of different alien skins; the Vidiians have come into conflict with Voyager and its crew in various attempts to steal organs from them"

"Mother of god" said Cutter in a disgusted if astounded tone,

"Sir they are hailing" said another officer,

"On screen" said Cutter as he got up from his chair and moved to the view screen at the rear of the bridge. On the screen appeared a Vidiian who looked as if he was the result of some genetic experiment gone horribly wrong.

"I am Captain Cutter of the UNSC Spirit of Fire, we mean you no trouble and..." said Cutter

"Power down your weapons and prepare to be boarded. Your ship's crew will surrender and their organs will be harvested, and grafted into our people to fight the phage. You have 1 minute to surrender." Interrupted the Vidiian captain, he terminated the link before Cutter could respond.

"Cocky basted" said forge, "orders sir?" said Forge. Cutter looked at him and scanned the bridge and found every eye on the bridge was focused on him. He pressed a button on the Tac- table and said,

"All hands this is the captain, prepare to repel borders. Set up defences in the hangar bays and airlocks. And take not one step back"

"Sir, Vidiian ships closing at 600 kilometres" said the Lieutenant.

"Launch all Shortswords and target the ships with the MAC" Said Cutter,

"Yes Sir, I have a firing solution on the second Vidiian ship" said the deck officer at fire control,

"Fire"

"Firing" said the fire control officer as the ship shook as the ships MAC fired "Target hit, shields down major structural damage but they're still operational, shortswords closing for the kill"

"Sir, Vidiian ships have increased speed at 300 kilometres and closing. Their returning fire" said an officer. Just as he finished the ship Shook violently.

"Damage report!" demanded Cutter as he steadied himself on the Tac-table,

"Hull breaches on decks 28 through 25 sections alpha 4 through bravo 7, we have confirmed casualties" shouted an officer,

"Seal airlocks and vent atmosphere in those sections and return fire" said Cutter.

"Sir their within the MAC's minimum range at 50 kilometres" said the Fire control officer,

"Open fire with deck guns and archer pods, hell point defence turrets, I don't care just get some fire on them!" Demanded Cutter.

"Yes sir" said the fire control officer "sir Shortswords have destroyed the number 3 ship but have taken extensive casualties"

"How many?" asked cutter,

"18 out of 25 birds are down sir" said the flight deck officer,

"Sir the first Vidiian ship is holding position 300 meters directly above us and have lowered their shields" Said an officer with confusion in his voice,

"What?" said Cutter,

"Wait, something's happening, Sir their lowering boarding tubes" said a frantic officer

"Manoeuvre us away" commanded Cutter,

"We can't they've got us in some kind of tractor beam sir" said the lieutenant.

"Sir they've made contact with the outer hull and are boring their way through the hull"

"Sir I've got intrusion alerts on decks 1 and 2 sections gamma 4 and echo 2 marines on sight have already engaged" The deck officers reports came from all angles, melding into a single flurry around the captain.

"Orders Sir?" one officer said, the bridge went silent. Cutter looked at each of the crewmen, all eyes fixated on him, breathing heavily,

"Get me the Spartans" he said.

Master Chief and the Spartans of red team were currently engaged in the fight of their lives. After the initial reports of borders had come through from the upper decks, The Spartans had made their way from their standby locations in the hangar bay to the upper decks to reinforce the marines. They'd arrived just in time, the marines were either out or low on ammo and many lay on the ground dead or dying, their organs stolen from them by the Vidiian weapons. Now the Spartans were engaged in an attempt to hold back their attackers. The master chief slammed home a fresh mag into his MA5B, racked the slide and leaned around the bulkhead he was using for cover, fired a quick burst, saw a Vidiian drop and dived back behind cover. He looked at his rifles ammo counter, 18 rounds left, he did a quick inventory, 3 frag grenades, and two more mags for his MA5, not much. He looked over to red team, who were also sheltering behind bulkheads, occasionally slipping out to fire a short burst of fire and then ducked back to shelter from the Vidiian laser fire. Chief opened up the TEAMCOM and said, "how we all doing?"

"Low on ammo chief and these bastards just keep coming" said Alice,

"Ditto" said Douglas,

"Any bright ideas on how to take these guys out" asked Jerome, slightly irritated. Chief peaked around the corner to where the Vidiians were in cover and saw several pipes running along the roof, he formulated a plan in his head, it was crazy but it just might work.

"I've got an idea, frags on my mark" he said, he received 3 green winks on his HUD, meaning that the team was ready. He placed his MA5 on his back and reached for his previously untouched M6c magnum sidearm and racked the slide, he took a deep breath and dived from cover, and fired one shot into the pipe, freezing gas sprayed from the pipe and into the bulkhead, catching the Vidiians off guard, fatal mistake.

"NOW!" Cried chief as he landed on the deck, rolling into a ball as 3 frag grenades flew over him into the Vidiians, detonating in a shower of shrapnel and ignited gas. When the dust settled, it was clear all the Vidiians were dead. Chief unravelled himself and rolled onto his back he looked up to see Alice offering him a hand, he took it and she pulled him up.

"Thanks he said,

Alice was about to respond when Cutter's voice came over the com,

"Spartans do you copy?"

"We copy sir" said Chief

"I have a job for you" Cutter said "the Vidiians are boarding us via 2 boarding tubes on the top side of the ship, we can't move unless their destroyed, I want you 4 to get out there and plant bombs on them and destroy them."

"Understood Sir" said Chief

"You'll find an armoury about 100 meters astern of your current location, good luck Cutter out" With that the radio clipped off. The Spartans nodded to each other and sprinted for the afore mentioned armoury. It took no time for the Spartans to arrive in the Armoury, they quickly looked over the shelves and racks of weapons and found what they were looking for, 4 locus Anti-tank mines and 8 tubes of C-12 high explosives, hopefully it would be enough. The 4 Spartans placed the mines on their backs and the canisters of C-12 at their hips, restocked their ammo and grenades and took off for the nearest airlock. The Spartans found a airlock and crammed into the small airlock.

"Alright" Chief said "there are 2 airlocks on the outer deck that means teams of two. Jerome Douglas, you take tube 1, Alice and I have tube 2." As the airlock depressurised and the doors opened "Ok, GO" And the 4 Spartans took off, heading for the tubes as fast as their armour would let them while using magnetic boots. Each of the Tubes resembled an orbital tether like those on reach and earth. As Chief and Alice closed to within 10 meters of the tube they disengaged their magnetic boots and jumped, the zero gravity carrying them high onto the tether. They landed on the tether and immediately set to work, placing the mines close together and emptying the canisters of C-12 around the mines, what they had created, was a bomb that would destroy the tube, hopefully. The Spartans inserted a detonation chip into the C-12 and linked it to their helmets. Alice and Chief both turned and nodded to each other and turned, pushing off the tube, diving for the top deck. When they landed they rolled and engaged their magnetic boots, securing themselves to the deck.

"Were ready to blow it, you two done yet?" asked Alice into the comm.

"Done, let's blow this thing" said Jerome over the comm. Chief sent the signal from his helmet and the detonator did its work, a huge explosion rocked the ship, shattering the tubes, sending the Vidiian ship of course as the air escaped the tube. As the Spartans admired their handiwork, the Spirit began to spin, its bow poised below the Vidiian ship.

"What the...?" said Douglas, He was interrupted by a clap of thunder as the Spirits MAC fired, the round shredding the defenceless ship.

"Whoa... that was... cool" Said Douglas in awe of what had happened. The 3 other Spartans looked at him.

"What?" he said,

"Lets get back inside" said Chief, the 3 spartans nodded and they took off at a Jog for the Airlock.


End file.
